UDON ENTERTAINMENT CORP
by Various Straight from Korea comes a breathtaking new anthology series! From video games, to animation, to comics, Korean artists have touched all facets of modern media. APPLE lets these artists shine as their creativity flows through eye-popping artwork and wondrous original tales. Artist Hyung-Tae Kim (ROBOT, Magna Carta), is joined by dozens of Korea’s most talented creators.”

by Pat Kennedy, George Gladir, Tim Kennedy & Various Things get ‘hairy’ for Archie and Jughead when Reggie convinces them they’ll go bald just like their fathers! Can Dilton’s hair growth formula or the Internet’s ‘cure’ help our heroes tackle their ‘mane’ concern? Then, when Archie agrees to umpire a girls’ softball game, his eye is on more than the bats and ball! Plus, other new and classic tales, puzzles, pin-ups, and games!”

The Art of Animal Character Design

David’s Doodles

by David Colman

Finally, there is an art book above the rest. There are many animal drawing books out there, but none explain how to use the knowledge obtained from study in an actual trade craft. This book explores the methods, philosophies, and secrets of a top character designer in the animation industry when dealing with creating animal characters, both professional production samples and personal work make up the content.

Batman Gotham After Midnite #2 (of 12)

by Steve Niles, Kelley Jones

The Batman has been ambushed by a gang of thugs who want only one thing: the death of the Dark Knight Detective. But there is more to this nefarious plan than it seems. For at the stroke of midnight, the mysterious monster behind this gang wants to strike fear into the hearts of all the citizens of Gotham City!

Jack’s now a wayward Fable in the heartland of America. Follow his extreme road stories as he reveals the secret of his former relationship with the illustrious Snow Queen (when he took her powers and became known as Jack Frost).

On the “Batman: Gotham Knight” DVD due in two weeks, there’s a 10-minute featurette on the upcoming animated Wonder Woman DVD movie directed by Lauren Montgomery (“Superman Doomsday”) and based on the 1987 George Perez relaunch that pitted the Amazon princess against god of war Ares.

It’s been known for a few months (but not widely publicized) who landed the roles of Diana of Themyscira and Steve Trevor, but the featurette fills us in on three more key roles:

Fans of the old Lynda Carter show know Steve is Diana’s flyboy love interest; Hippolyta is queen of the Amazons and Diana’s mom. Artemis is the Amazon who threatens to castrate Steve if he comes “within five yards” of Diana.

The featurette also reveals that the project’s writer is Michael Jelenic, whose credits include “The Batman” and “Legion of Super Heroes” Saturday-morning TV shows.

I have never previously read this book, nor am I familiar with any of the characters. Because of this I was immediately taken out of the book. Nothing seemed fun or interesting, I didn’t care enough about anyone to fine out what happens next. If I was given a copy of the GN as a gift I would give it a try, but there’s nothing here for me.

Countdown to Mystery #7

Fantastic! I can’t wait to pick up every issue of this. The Eclipso part is one of those stories that straddles the line between DC and Vertigo. There are the super hero moments and then the big cosmic/spiritual ones. Then there’s Dr. Fate. This is like philosophy in comics. The mind job has only begun for everyone to have worn the mantle of Dr. Fate. If this book had a few less heroes in it and was drawn in any style other than the typical buff bods and babes style I think it could be a Vertigo hit. It’s a comic that made me stop and think, which is more than I can say for most this week.

Dead Space #3

Part 2001, part zombie story, part of a limited series which equals all confusing. It’s not a bad book by any means, but it is obviously meant to be read in GN form. The funky horror art and a mystifying storyline are nice, but it’s not enough for a monthly.

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein – Prodigal Son #1

I have never read a book from Koontz and I don’t know that this will make me start. Interesting enough premise, updating the Frankenstein legend for the 21st century. However the Monster seems a little too trashy-romance-novel-cover for me. The good Doctor is at work making another monster while being pursued by cops and his former Monster. Nothing too groundbreaking yet, I would be interested to see how this holds up side by side with the original novel though.

Death Grub

A 24 hour comics comic, and not a bad one at that. The Death Grub hatches from a planets moon, comes to the planet, eats everything, then returns to the moon to give birth, die, and this repeats every 100 years. Not much dialog or text in the book at all, but its not needed. I’m already fascinated by the characters and species that have shown up in a mere 20 pages. To think that the book and my questions were all created (written, penciled, and inked) in only 24 hours makes me giddy to think of what could come from 24 days or months of work on this idea. More Death Grub please!

Everybody’s Dead #3

This is horrible. I hope I would enjoy this more if I were on drugs, as that seems to be the target audience, but wow is it bad. It’s Frat Boys vs. Zombies. They get a zombie high. So it has to eat more brains than usual. Very cartoon art that at times made me think I was reading Penny Arcade. Now that would be interesting, Penny Arcade vs Zombies. But until that story is told, skip this one.

Foolkiller #5

Also known as the place to tell Punisher stories when you can’t use the Punisher. Foolkiller kills “fools”, the low lifes and crooks of society. He has is own code of honor and is noble, of a sort, but what makes him different? As far as I can tell, nothing.

This is Batman RIP issue 1. What will happen? Will Batman die? Who will take his place? So many questions that will not be answered for months, so try to enjoy the ride, its going to be a long one.

The Danse Macabre and the Black Hand are interesting enough, but damn that is one bad ass looking Joker in the book. As scary as the Joker is when he’s crazy, a calm quiet Joker is terrifying.

Why would the Batmobile need a CD player? Even more, why does Batman need Jezebel Jet? I want to be surprised in these issues. I want twists and turns that I’m not expecting. But I’m already predicting that the end of the series will see Jezebel betray Bruce, Bruce as Batman, and the Joker in Arkham. This is Grant Morrison, I expect better. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.